This notice provides the Department of
State’s (the Department) privacy policy regarding the nature, purpose, use, and sharing of any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) collected via this website. Our privacy policy explains
our information practices when you provide PII to us, whether collected online or offline, or when you visit us online to browse, obtain information, or conduct a transaction. PII may include:
your name, email, mailing and/or home address, phone numbers, or other information that identifies you personally. We do not require you to register or provide personal information to visit our
website.

The PII you provide on a Department website
will be used only for its intended purpose. We will protect your information consistent with the principles of the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and
the Federal Records Act.

Personally Identifiable
Information

As a general rule, the Department does not
collect PII about you when you visit our website, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Submitting PII through our website is voluntary. By doing so, you are giving the Department
your permission to use the information for the stated purpose. However, not providing certain information may result in the Department’s inability to provide you with the service you
desire.

If you choose to provide us with PII on a
Department website, through such methods as completing a web form or sending us an email, we will use that information to help us provide you the information or service you have requested or to
respond to your message. The information we may receive from you varies based on what you do when visiting our site.

Generally, the information requested by the
Department will be used to respond to your inquiry or to provide you with the service you request. When this information is requested, the reasons for collecting it, a description of the
Department’s intended use of the information, how to grant consent to use mandatorily provided information, and how to grant consent for other than statutorily mandated uses will be fully
described in a separate customized “Privacy Notice.” This customized Privacy Notice will either appear on the web page collecting the information or be accessible through a hyperlink (link)
prominently displayed immediately above or below the information request.

Email

Many of our programs and websites allow you
to send us an email. We will use the information you provide to respond to your inquiry. We will only send you general information via email. You should be reminded that email may not necessarily
be secure against interception. Therefore, we suggest that you do not send sensitive personal data (such as your Social Security number) to us via email. If your intended email communication is
very sensitive, or includes information such as your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number, you should instead send it by U.S. mail. Another alternative may be submission of data
through a secure web page, if available.

Electronic mail messages that meet the
definition of records in the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) are covered under the same disposition schedule as all other Federal records. This means that emails you send
us will be preserved and maintained for varying periods of time if those emails meet the definition of Federal records. Electronic messages that are not records are deleted when no longer
needed.

Categories of information the Department
collects on its websites are further described below.

Automatically Collected
Information

We collect and temporarily store certain
information about your visit for use in site management and security purposes only. We collect and analyze this information because it helps us to better design our website to suit your needs. We
may also automatically collect information about the web content you view in the event of a known security or virus threat. This information includes:

1. The Internet domain from which you access
our website (for example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private Internet access account, or “yourschool.edu” if you connect from an educational domain);

2. The Internet Protocol (IP) address (a
unique number for each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access our website;

6. The Universal Resource Locators (URLs),
or addresses, of the pages you visit;

7. Your username, if it was used to log in
to the website; and

8. If you visited this website from another
website, the URL of the forwarding site.

We may share the above information with our
employees or representatives with a “need-to-know” in the performance of their official duties, other Federal agencies, or other named representatives as needed to quickly process your request or
transaction. This information is only used to help us make our site more useful for you. Raw data logs are retained temporarily as required for security and site management purposes only. More
information about how we share information can be found in our Privacy Act Systems of Records Notices.

Third-Party Websites and
Applications

The Department uses social media websites
and other kinds of third-party websites. The Department uses social media websites to interact with foreign constituencies and engage in public diplomacy worldwide. Social media websites are used
to publicize embassy and Department events, and engage with members of the public in foreign countries. The Department also uses web measurement and customization technologies to measure the
number of visitors to our websites and their various sections and to help make our websites more useful to visitors. In such cases, the third-party application may request an email address,
username, password, and geographic location (e.g., State, region, or ZIP code) for account registration purposes. The Department of State does not use third-party websites to solicit and collect
PII from individuals. Any PII passively collected (i.e., not solicited) by the third-party website will not be transmitted or stored by the Department; no PII will be disclosed, sold or
transferred to any other entity outside the Department, unless required for law enforcement purposes or by statute.

The Department uses various types of online
surveys to collect opinions and feedback from a random sample of visitors. Primarily, state.gov uses the ForeSee Results’ American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) online survey on an ongoing
basis to obtain feedback and data on visitors’ satisfaction with the state.gov website. This survey does not collect PII. Although the survey invitation pops up for a random sample of visitors,
it is optional. If you decline the survey, you will still have access to the identical information and resources at the state.gov site as those who do take the survey. The survey reports are
available only to state.gov managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. The Department may use other limited-time surveys for specific purposes,
which are explained at the time they are posted.

The Department retains the data from the
ACSI survey results as long as needed to support the mission of the state.gov website.

Information Collected for Tracking and
Customization (Cookies)

A cookie is a small file that a website
transfers to your computer to allow it to remember specific information about your session while you are connected. Your computer will only share the information in the cookie with the website
that provided it, and no other website can request it. There are two types of cookies:

Session: Session cookies last only as long as your web browser is open. Once you close your
browser, the cookie is deleted. Websites may use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for
interacting with the site.

Persistent: Persistent cookies are saved on a user’s hard drive in order to determine which
users are new to the site or are returning, and for repeat visitors, to block recurring invitations to take the ForeSee satisfaction survey.

If you do not wish to have session or
persistent cookies stored on your machine, you can turn cookies off in your browser. You will still have access to all information and resources at Department websites. However, turning
off cookies may affect the functioning of some Department websites. Be aware that disabling cookies in your browser will affect cookie usage at all other websites you visit as well.

Security

The Department takes the security of all PII
very seriously. We take precautions to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the information we collect at this site. Such measures include access controls designed to limit
access to the information to the extent necessary to accomplish our mission. We also employ various security technologies to protect the information stored on our systems. We routinely test our
security measures to ensure that they remain operational and effective.

We take the following steps to secure the
information we collect:

Employ internal access controls to ensure that only personnel who have access
to your information are those with a need to do so to perform their official duties.

We hold our contractors and other
third-party providers to the same high standards that we use to ensure the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal information they may have access to in the course of their work
completed on behalf of the Department.

Interaction With Children
Online

The Department is committed to the
protection of children’s online privacy. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathered online from or about children under the age of 13. Verifiable consent
from a child’s parent or guardian is required before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from a child under age 13. If a Department website intends to collect information about
children under 13 years old, COPPA-required information and instructions will be provided by the specific web page that collects information about the child. The web page will specify exactly
what the information will be used for, who will see it, and how long it will be kept.

Visiting Other Websites

Our website contains links to international
agencies, private organizations, and some commercial entities. These websites are not within our control and may not follow the same privacy, security, or accessibility polices. Once you link to
another site, you are subject to the policies of that site. All Federal websites, however, are subject to the same Federal policy, security, and accessibility mandates.

Privacy Policy Contact
Information

We welcome feedback if you have any questions regarding our privacy policy or the use of your information. The Department’s privacy compliance materials are available at Privacy Impact
Assessments (PIA) and Systems of Records Notices (SORN).